Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is a turn-based role-playing game with a focus on monster taming and battling. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Overview
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Amazing Monster Taming Mechanics Great Visual Art Style Compelling Coming of Age Story |
Inconsistent Story Pacing Repetitive Music Textures Leave A Lot To Be Desired |
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Overall - 80/100
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is an amazing spinoff for the Dragon Quest series. With amazing visuals, compelling storytelling, and great gameplay, it can definitely hold its own with the different "monster taming" RPG games. Don’t let the simple gameplay fool you, all of the monster taming mechanics unlock the floodgates for all players to make the monster dream team of your choice.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Story - 8/10
The story doesn’t waste any time putting you into the thick of things and letting you play the game fast. However, it may be a detriment due to this kind of pace. It will take some time before you get context for a lot of things and it may be confusing to some to progress at this pace. It has constant moments of wanting to know what happens next, but there's a certain disconnect with the progress of the story as well as what you're currently doing in the game. The story may be off-putting due to its segmented and inconsistent nature.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Gameplay - 9/10
The gameplay is kind of like a fusion of Digimon, Shin Megami Tensei, and the mainline Dragon Quest games at the same time. It features multiple monsters on the field for both your side and the enemy side and highlights "Synthesis" as the main way to strengthen your monsters which is the game’s version of monster fusion. The grind is real for this game, as fusing monsters and passing the best traits will be the best way to strengthen your monster as well as covering your party’s weaknesses. While the combat is simple at a glance, the optimization and progression adds to the game’s depth as passing talents and breeding monsters to make the ultimate monster dream team is the best way to get the most out of its gameplay.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Visuals - 8/10
The visuals of the Dragon Quest franchise has always been highlighted by Akira Toriyama’s, the author of Dragonball, artwork. While the monster and character design is amazing, you can’t really say much about the low textures of the game as a whole. It features different seasons for each place so potentially there are four of each explorable region as they change over time, but the designs are greatly brought down by the low textures.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Audio - 7/10
The music of the Dragon Quest franchise has always been great, but it will become repetitive and tiresome to listen to. They use mostly the same music for towns and normal battles which is consistent with the series’ approach to music for most of the time. They use the same sound effects and design for the franchise which is all well and good, but hearing the same music for battles and exploration will wear you down.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Value for Money - 8/10
The game is worth its price of $60 as a great standalone game. The only thing that hurts it is its exclusivity with the Nintendo Switch and the fact that the genre is pretty niche. Other than a few minor grievances with relation to story pacing, grindy gameplay, low texture visuals, and repetitive music, the game is honestly amazing. It offers you an alternative to different monster taming games and is the paradise for lovers of the genre.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review: Monster-Taming Paradise
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince surprised me, in a great way. I didn’t expect to enjoy another monster taming marathon, but it has proven to stand on its own in that specific genre. To give you context, I have most of my experience dabbling in Pokemon, Shin Megami Tensei, and Digimon, specifically in that order of magnitude. The "grindiness" of the genre is something that I expect and this game is no different. The surprise comes from how much it differentiates itself from being able to balance the grind and the monster management. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince makes it so that the grind is there with optimization of monster breeding and fusion, but balances it by making it easy to level up simultaneous monsters and repeat the process of constantly bolstering your team. The gameplay loop is simple and satisfying, greatly enhanced by a great story worthy of the Dragon Quest franchise.
The franchise has always been known to have a simple barebones approach to combat with weaknesses and straight to the point commands. This goes hand in hand with the complexity of monster taming as it makes it have an immediate impact on you when you synthesize a new monster and train with it right after. The game has definitely opened my eyes to more of what's missing from the genre. It strikes the middle ground of the monster taming progression, as you don’t feel like you’re either going way too slow or way too fast and I appreciate this aspect of the game. You can chalk it up to having negative experiences with other games in the genre, but I can’t deny that this game was able to make me like the genre more again.
Let me get this out of the way, I have not gotten to play most of the Dragon Quest games and I only have experience with Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King and Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. The storylines of the Dragon Quest franchise have yet to disappoint me and this is no exception. It’s meant to be a bridge as to why Psaro turned out the way he did in Dragon Quest IV as he becomes the main antagonist of that game. It shows his story of being a half-demon living in human society and showcases the worst of humanity countless times with his childhood and their exploitative nature to beings that are different from them. The game also shows him changing slowly, from his one-dimensional goal to become the Master of Monsterkind to his eventual hatred of humanity.
This game is a breath of fresh air and has made me appreciate the monster taming RPG genre again. It features an incredible coming of age story with Psaro’s rise and a gameplay loop that’s deeper and way more fun than I expected.
Pros of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review
| Things Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Got Right |
|---|
|
Amazing Monster Taming Mechanics Great Visual Art Style Compelling Coming of Age Story |
Amazing Monster Taming Mechanics
There’s a great variety of mechanics that Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince has that is similar to the other games in the genre. First off, the recruitment process for monsters is fairly simple, feed them monster food then finish the battle or use the "Scout" option during battle to persuade them to join through your monsters. Afterwards, you have options as to how to use these monsters to your advantage. Train them to level up their provided talents then synthesize them through monster fusion to inherit these skills to the resulting monster which opens the avenue to optimizing your monsters.
While all of these mechanics are familiar to fans of the genre, the beauty lies in being able to quickly transition into this without feeling the burn out of hardcore grinding. You are encouraged to keep synthesizing them to be able to pass these skills early, resulting in a quick gameplay loop that is both satisfying and quick compared to the other game in the genre which will have you grinding for hours for a single evolution.
Great Visual Art Style
There may be some controversy with regards to the art style as the cartoony visuals may not be your cup of tea. However, this has always been one of the main draws of the Dragon Quest franchise. Akira Toriyama’s character and monster designs evoke nostalgic feelings especially for those who are long time Dragon Quest fans as well as fans of his various works like Dragonball and Chrono Trigger. The explorable locales also look amazing with the different seasons as they affect the region’s aesthetic. Its unique and distinct style has always set itself apart from other RPGs and one that I hope won’t change in the future.
Compelling Coming of Age Story
Psaro’s story is something of a tragedy that you see unfold throughout the game. He is constantly mistreated during his youth and his mother asks him to hold onto his humanity no matter how dire the situation. It shows in his feelings of revenge towards his father, Rodolfo, and his desire to take the throne. Initially, he becomes distant towards the ruby-teared elf, Rose, but in time grows fond of her. But due to the evil nature of humans, he grows to hate humanity due to them wanting to hurt and exploit different beings time and time again. It all culminates to the result of becoming the Master of Monsterkind and eventually the main antagonist of Dragon Quest IV with his hatred of humans and their irredeemable nature.
Cons of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review
| Things That Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Can Improve |
|---|
|
Inconsistent Story Pacing Repetitive Music Textures Leave A Lot To Be Desired |
Inconsistent Story Pacing
I’ve harped on about the amazing storytelling the game has to offer, but the pacing is definitely something that holds it back. The story jumps fairly quickly from a story of revenge to monster taming or wrangling, then back to story segments that sometimes don’t really make too much sense. This back and forth becomes quite jarring as it flips back and forth constantly throughout the game.
Repetitive Music
The franchise has had great music scores with its games. However, it has a problem with having huge areas to explore and a lot of monsters in the vicinity where you may get tired of the music. This isn’t necessarily anything new to the franchise as this was one of my problems in the mainline games. The first few times listening to the music is amazing, it's the classic orchestral music I’ve come to expect from the series, but it quickly became tiring to listen to after countless hours of battles and exploration that I’ve done.
Textures Leave A Lot To Be Desired
Earlier I said that the art style of Dragon Quest is amazing because of Akira Toriyama’s distinct art style and its nostalgia factor. This gets brought down by the low textures of the game. This isn’t an exclusive problem to the Nintendo Switch, but a limitation that the franchise has faced throughout the years. My issue with this is they would be planning to re-release an HD remaster of the game available for different platforms in the future when it may have been better in its current state.
Is Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Worth It?
Yes. If You’re Willing To Try The Genre.
It’s a great monster taming game and dare I say, it’s a great introduction to the genre. However, the genre in itself is not the most popular with the exception of Pokemon and some aspects of the Persona series. It’s a pretty niche genre with very daunting choices where I would understand reservations for it. Fans of the monster taming genre will appreciate it for its simple and effective gameplay loop that’ll keep you hooked for hours. Also, the game being exclusive to the Nintendo Switch also hampers potential newcomers as some may not be fans of the platform or just don’t have the platform at all. If you’re willing to get your feet wet in the monster taming genre, I suggest giving Dragon Quest Monster: The Dark Prince a try! Provided you have a Nintendo Switch of course.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review Overview & Premise
Due to a curse, Psaro is unable to cause harm to anything with monster blood. To build an army for battle, he must train to be a Monster Wrangler. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince chronicles Psaro's rise to power, as well as his first meeting with the ruby-teared elf, Rose.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review FAQ
Is Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince available for any other platform?
Currently, no. It is a Nintendo Switch exclusive on its release. However, fans can hope that it may get released for other platforms in the future as the franchise has been porting more of their games to multiple platforms recently.
Before Playing Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, do you need to play the other games?
No. While the game tells the backstory of a villain in an older Dragon Quest game, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re immediately lost if you don’t know who the characters are. The game does a good job of standing on its own without relying on the player knowing who the characters are prior to the events of the game.
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Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Product Information
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| Title | Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince |
|---|---|
| Release Date | December 1, 2023 |
| Developer | Square Enix |
| Supported Platforms | Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | RPG |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | Everyone 10+ |
| Official Website | Dragon Quest Monsters |
